Government pension policy and the cost of labor and capital

This article examines how the pension insurance provided by the PBGC and the tax treatment of pension plans affect the cost of labor and capital. Two important aspects of the insurance program are (1) the premium schedule and (2) an employer's liability for unfunded pension benefits (the deductible). These two aspects interact to increase the cost of capital relative to labor, especially for firms with underfunded plans.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45413/1/10693_2004_Article_BF00119168.pd

Democracy Does Not Cause Growth:The Importance of Endogeneity Arguments

This article challenges recent findings that democracy has sizable effects on economic growth. As extensive political science research indicates that economic turmoil is responsible for causing or facilitating many democratic transitions, the paper focuses on this endogeneity concern. Using a worldwide survey of 165 country-specific democracy experts conducted for this study, the paper separates democratic transitions into those occurring for reasons related to economic turmoil, here called endogenous, and those grounded in reasons more exogenous to economic growth. The behavior of economic growth following these more exogenous democratizations strongly indicates that democracy does not cause growth. Consequently, the common positive association between democracy and economic growth is driven by endogenous democratization episodes (i.e., due to faulty identification)

Computing Stroke Volume from Digital 2-D Color Flow Echocardiographic Eineloops of the Left Ventricular Outflow Tract

In this paper, we introduce a technique for automatically computing stroke volume from 2-D color flow echocardiographic cineloops of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). This technique eliminates the need for manual specification of the direction of flow and automatically detects the LVOT conduit margins. Feedback as to the accuracy of the LVOT border assignments is provided using a synthetically-generated color M-mode image across the LVOT

On the Regulated Nuclear Transport of Incompletely Spliced mRNAs by HIV-Rev Protein: A Minimal Dynamic Model

A kinetic model for the HIV-1 Rev protein is developed by drawing upon mechanistic information from the literature to formulate a set of differential equations modeling the behavior of Rev and its various associated factors over time. A set of results demonstrates the possibility of oscillations in the concentration of these factors. Finally, the results are analyzed, and future directions are discussed

Endocardial Border Detection in Contrast Enhanced Echocardiographic Cineloops Using a Pulse Coupled Neural Network

Endocardial border detection is a crucial step for the quantitative analysis of overall and regional left ventricular function from echocardiographic images. Echocardiographic contrast agents with transpulmonary passage are being used increasingly in clinical practice for left ventricular cavity opacification. We investigate the feasibility of using pulse coupled neural networks to identify the left ventricular endocardial border in contrast-enhanced echocardiographic cineloops